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William Wilmott (1797-1886)
}} On 2 March 1818 William Willmott was convicted to 7 years transportation for theft. On 18 May 1818 he was placed aboard the hulk Justinia at Woolwich on the Thames River awaiting transportation. In 18 July 1818 his transport ship the Shipley ''sailed from Woolwich, and arrived in Port Jackson (Sydney) 5 months later on 18 Novemeber 1818. Lachlan Macquarie was Governor of the colony when the ''Shipley arrived. The total population in New South Wales in 1818 amounted to 17,165 people of those there were 6,440 convicts still serving their time - 4,100 male convicts and 2340 female convicts and 850 of their children. 39 year old William Willmott married 15 year old Francis Whitely in November 1836. Voyage of the ''Shipley'' – Master (Captain) Lewis Williams Moncrief, Surgeon Superintendent Robert Espie. The convicts to be embarked on the Shipley came from many different parts of England and Wales. They were held in county prisons before being transferred to prison hulks moored in the River Thames. From the hulks they were transferred to the Shipley for transportation to New South Wales. The surgeon Robert Espie kept a Medical Journal from 23 June 1818 to 21 December 1818. At 3pm on Tuesday 23rd June 1818 eighty male convicts, all but two double ironed, were embarked on the Shipley. They were in good health and according to the surgeon were robust young men mostly under the age of 35 years. Before receiving them Robert Espie had inspected the prison which he found clean and comfortable. The following day at 2pm seventy more were embarked, all in perfect health. That evening about a third of the prisoners were allowed on deck. They were reported to be well behaved men. After only a few days the surgeon began to remove the double leg irons of some of the better behaved men. The weather was fine and warm while they moored at Woolwich to await sailing orders. On 1st July prisoner Mercer Ludgater was received on board in exchange for another prisoner. The surgeon remarked that the convicts conducted themselves in a very orderly manner and were allowed every indulgence possible. Their last day in England, 17th July, was gloomy with rain in the morning. The following day, 18th July, they awoke to a fine, clear day. As they proceeded down the Thames the first mention of unruly behaviour occurred. Abraham Solomons was punished with 35 lashes for riotous and disorderly conduct and Thomas Brown for throwing his mat about was handcuffed. The Shipley arrived in Port Jackson on 18 November 1818 after a voyage of 123 days. Robert Espie made entries in his journal for almost every day. In his summary at the end of the voyage he remarked on the deaths of three of the prisoners: Although three out of the five cases detailed in this journal terminated fatally, I trust it will not be inferred that the ship was sickly or that their illness was in any way caused or aggravated by want of discipline and cleanliness, but that their indisposition and death was purely the effect of incidental disease attacking men already much advanced in years and greatly emaciated by mental anxiety and confinement - each having left behind him a family - two out of the three, I think, would have paid the debt of nature had they been on shore, but the other certainly fell a victim to the motion of the ship and the disagreeable state of the weather. __SHOWFACTBOX__ Category:Convicts transported to New South Wales